Lacey’s 23 Points Leads Alabama Men’s Basketball to Win 80-49

The Alabama men’s basketball team beat West Alabama, 80-49 Sunday afternoon in game two of the 2K Sports Classic at Coleman Coliseum. Sophomore Trevor Lacey led the Crimson Tide with a career-high 23 points.

“This was certainly, for us, turning the field early and for our guys to come out after a very emotional win on Friday and bounce back today, I thought we responded pretty well,” UA head coach Anthony Grant said.  “In the first half, I thought again we had too many turnovers. They were able to get on the board against us quite a bit and we had to find our way.”

 Sophomore guard Trevor Lacey had a career night, scoring 23 points and going 5-5 from behind the three-point line while also having a team-high four assists. Tigers Center Jack Hill provided his team with 18 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

Leading by just one at the midpoint of the first half, the Tide stretched its lead to 11 at the half, 36-25.

“In the second half I thought our intensity really picked up and I thought we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball and finding each other,” Grant said. “In the second half we had 11 assists and 4 turnovers. Those are areas we just have to get better in. We’ve got to continue to understand what allows us to win and be successful. We’ve got to be able to take care of the basketball. We’ve got to rebound the basketball.”

Alabama outscored the Tigers 44-24 in the second half to put the game away. In addition to Lacey, sophomore Rodney Cooper added 16 point to go along with his team-high seven rebounds while Trevor Releford had 14 points of his own.

Alabama plays again this Thursday, November 15, against Oregon State in New York’s Madison Square Garden as the Tide continues play in the 2K Sports Classic. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPN2 and broadcast via radio by the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 99.1 WDGM's sister station 95.3 the Bear.